:: Dhivehi Observer :: Peoples Press ::

Time for Gayyoom to prepare his own cell

Dhivehi Observer editorial staff - 21 October 2004

The horrors of the dictatorship of Maumoon Gayyoom in Maldives are being fully exposed. He has been cornered by the truth and by his own brave people.

High-level international pressure forced Gayyoom to release the political detainees. This is a clear indication that his lies are no longer believed by the world. Many of his people know the truth, and foreigners dealing with Maldives are realising exactly how Gayyoom has deceived and manipulated them over the years.

Intelligent people on all the Maldive islands are fully aware that their leader is a criminal and they understand their poverty and lack of basic services are the result of Gayyoom's gross theft from the Maldives treasury.

Foreign and Maldivian historians will record that Gayyoom is an evil dictator who fooled the world into believing he was a man of vision and integrity, while he robbed the country and ordered the torture, rape and oppression of some of the world's most peaceful and decent people.

People have been deprived of their human dignity. The law of Maldives has been in the hands of a ruthless and totally amoral dictator. There is no 'rule of law' in Maldives, there is nothing but the orders of gangsters. It is hard to accept that in a civilized and peaceful society like Maldives, such inhuman acts are conducted by its own government and security forces.

Amnesty International and later the French-based Reporters without Borders and other human rights groups, and the Maldives opposition party MDP, have taken these issues seriously and worked tirelessly in the interests of Maldivians. They have helped bring Gayyoom's horrific crimes to the attention of the wider world.

This is an era when global democracy is a vital requirement for world peace. Countries ruled by families of gangsters provide a breeding ground for despair and terrorism. Indhira Gandhi and her son Sanjay thought the fanatical Sikh separatists were a joke; in the 1980s the US thought Saddam was an ally; and the CIA and Saudi royal family thought Osama Bin Laden could be useful too. The civilised world is learning the hard way that today's joke is tomorrow's nightmare.

Democracy and a fair and just rule of law must be established and nurtured in Maldives. The world is a small place now; nothing can be hidden for long, and terrorists easily cross borders. The deprived and brutalised people of Maldives expect their neighbours and the rest of the civilised world to give their fullest support to the creation of a pluralist and tolerant political system. Maldivians are no longer ignorant slaves. After centuries of hard labour, they deserve a fair share in the benefits of their country's wealth.